


Interlude at the Grocery Store

by gaily-daily (passionateartist)



Series: won't you hold my heart [8]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Gen, I lied, I told myself I was done with Maddie pov, M/M, why am i like this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:09:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22219090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/passionateartist/pseuds/gaily-daily
Summary: Grocery shopping and secrets revealed, in more ways than one.
Relationships: Danny Fenton/Vlad Masters
Series: won't you hold my heart [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1557736
Comments: 12
Kudos: 148





	Interlude at the Grocery Store

**Author's Note:**

> small drabble that didn't really fit into the last installment or the next one I have planned. Enjoy!

Danny throws some chips into the cart and Maddie has to keep from sighing. She couldn't stop her son from eating junk food if she tried. At least they'd left Jack behind to unpack. He was even worse than Danny at grocery shopping.

"How about some pasta tonight?" Maddie takes a box off the shelf. "I can cook you up some spaghetti."

Danny smiles. "Yeah that sounds great!"

She puts it in and heads for some tomato sauce. She was only too happy to help her son move out, even if she'd been curious as to why. Danny had told her that his stay with Vlad was only ever supposed to be temporary when she'd asked. Maddie accepts it well enough, but something about it still seemed off.

It was fine though. Her baby boy was finally living on his own. He'd taken the last step towards becoming truly independent. He was a man now. 

The cart rolls to a stop. He was a man. Who made his own decisions and cooked his own food. He was done growing up.

"Mom?"

Danny turns around at the end of the aisle. Having noticed his mother wasn't following him anymore.

"Sorry, just thinking sweetie." He walks back towards her and she can't help but reach up and pat his cheek. "I'm just so proud of you."

Danny pauses at her sudden affection. "For what?"

"For being you. For being my son."

"Mooom." He blushes. She laughs and squeezes his cheek harder before letting go. 

Maddie allows her son to step away. The kids had always gotten so embarrassed when her or Jack smothered them. Jack more so than her. He never did know how to hold himself back.

They walk down several more aisles, Danny choosing food she doesn't approve of, and her choosing food Danny didn't approve of. But it didn't matter if he didn't like it, she knew he'd end up eating it anyway. He'd always hated going to the grocery store. He'd sooner eat the healthy food in his kitchen than make a trip down to Walmart. 

"Hey Mom?"

She's examining a soup can when Danny turns to her, suddenly somber.

"Have you ever found it hard to forgive Dad for something?"

Maddie pauses to look at her son. Wondering where this had come from. All factors pointed to this being a Vlad related question. But maybe she was wrong. Maybe it was about a friend.

Maddie didn't say it but she was glad Danny had moved out. Away from that man. She had not yet worked up the courage to confront him. She hadn't wanted to be wrong _again_. But now with Danny in his apartment perhaps she didn't have to stress herself over the issue anymore. 

"Well, your father and I don't fight a whole lot. We can argue a bit but we never let it get too far." She she pauses to take in the expressions on her son's face. "But in the end, whenever we did take it too far we would apologize to each other and move on." 

"But what if the other party doesn't want to apologize? What if they think they're right when they're not?"

Oh this was _definitely_ a Vlad related question. She clenches a hands around the can still in her hand. What the hell had he done to her baby boy? Her immediate reaction is to tell him to cut all ties with that person if they weren't willing to admit their mistakes. To see their own faults. But she also doesn't want to give her son bad advice.

"Sometimes you have to recognize when a person is too toxic to be around."

Danny's eyes grow dark. He looks down at the floor.

"But," she says, and he looks back up, "sometimes a second chance is all someone really needs to grow and change."

Danny doesn't react outwardly. He merely nods and accepts her words. Maddie decides right then and there that if Danny does end up going back to that castle, she's going to interfere this time. She won't keep quiet. To hell with being wrong again!

They finish up the shopping and Danny helps her put the bags in the car. She's just about to grab her keys when she stops.

"Oh shoot I forgot to get the pudding!"

Jack had specifically asked for some right before they left. She didn't want to go back without it after assuring him she'd get it.

"I can go back in if you want me to." Danny offers.

"No, that's fine sweetie. I got it. You just wait in the car."

She turns to go back inside and tries to remember which kind of pudding her husband had said. Vanilla? No, it was probably chocolate.

She's so lost in her thoughts she barely notices the homeless man approach her from the shadows. He's incredibly dirty and smells like a sewer. She frowns and tries to walk around him. 

"I don't have any change on me." She says and attempts to walk into the store.

But the man blocks the entrance. "You're Danny Fenton's mother?"

That one stops her. She narrows her eyes and her hackles go up. 

"Who are you?" She says, low and commanding.

The man holds his hands up. "I don't want any trouble. Just wanted to pass along some information."

Maddie sizes the man up. He definitely didn't seem like much of a threat, but appearances could be deceiving. She loosely places her hand over the anti-creep stick on her belt.

"My name is Richard Chavez. I used to work for someone you know, a Vlad Masters?"

Chavez? The name didn't ring a bell. He must have been unimportant.

"And why should I care about some ex-employee?"

Richard grins. It's an ugly sight. His teeth are more brown than white. 

"What you should be asking is how I know your son."

-

Maddie doesn't speak the entire ride back to the apartment. Danny doesn't either, but his head was in his phone playing some game. Or maybe he was texting his friends, she doesn't know. 

Inside her thoughts swirls back and forth like a wave on the shore. The man who claimed his name was Richard Chavez had told her everything she'd always suspected. But could she really trust this stranger's words? If it was true that he used to work for Vlad, then it was entirely possible he was just a disgruntled employee making up stories to ruin Vlad's reputation. He'd probably randomly seen Danny around the office and remembered him. 

But what if wasn't lying?

And didn't she only _just_ have the epiphany that her son was growing up? That he was a man capable of making his own decisions? And here she was doubting him yet again. 

She grips the steering wheel and she doesn't know what to do. She doesn't know what to do.

-

Danny notices his mother's silence but he doesn't comment on it. He had enough on his mind as well. Specifically his alter ego Phantom. He's ready to tell them.

"Danny are you sure?" Jazz sounds worried through the phone. It's her default state at this point.

"I'm just tired of all the lies Jazz. They already know I have powers. Telling them I'm Phantom makes sense."

"Do you need me to come down there?"

"You don't need to hop on a plane every time I have an emotional crisis."

He has no doubt in his mind that she'd do it too. It was exhausting to have an overbearing sister, but he appreciated it. More than she knew.

"I always end up telling them my secrets because I'm backed into a corner. I don't want that. It's not fair to them. I want to tell them I'm Danny Phantom because I _want_ to. Not because I _have_ to."

Jazz is silent for a moment, then, "That's oddly mature of you little brother."

Danny rolls his eyes even if she can't see it. "I'm 23 is it so weird that I can make mature decisions?"

"Yes."

They both laugh. It calms some of Danny's nerves. He was really doing this. It was actually happening. 

"Hey Jazz?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't have to say anything, but would you mind sitting in on Skype? Just in the background?"

He hears the smile in her voice. "I'd love to, Danny."

"Cool. Cool. I'll call you on there in a bit then."

"Good luck Danny."

"Thanks."

He hangs up the phone. It was now or never. He takes a deep breath. One last time, and then heads downstairs to talk to his parents.

**Author's Note:**

> I very naively thought I could casually reblog a few Hannibal posts without getting sucked back into the fandom. It's only my most favorite TV show ever created of course I'm capable of not obsessing over it in my every waking moment. Hannibal is either who I am or I'm ignoring it for the sake of my sanity.
> 
> So anyway, the updates are probably not gonna be frequent anymore. But that doesn't mean there isn't more because there definitely is! It's just I've always found it difficult to juggle more than one obsession at a time.


End file.
